Students showcase sporting prowess as Bristol achieves historic top ten position

Press release issued:
25 July 2017

Adding another string to its bow, the University of Bristol has been ranked amongst the top 10 British institutions for sport for the first time in its history, by the British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) leagues.

BUCS is the national governing body for Higher Education sport in the UK, with almost 170 member institutions competing against each other at fixtures throughout the academic year in a range of sports.

This season was the University’s largest and most successful yet, with over 3,000 students and 100 teams competing in more than 60 different sports.

Also for the first time there are now two representing teams in the National Premier League: Tennis Women’s 1st and Cricket Men’s 1st.

Other season coups were the Men’s 1st Lacrosse team and Women’s 1st Fencing team which both remained unbeaten for the entire season. Football also gained five promotions for its teams while Volleyball scored both Gold and Silver trophies.

The University’s Director of Sport Matt Birch said of the announcement:

“We’re delighted to have come 9th in the BUCS leagues this year and we’re very proud of the hard work and dedication our teams and players have shown to their sporting clubs. Reaching the top ten has only been a specific goal for us since 2015 so to have accomplished it so quickly is a fantastic achievement. Many people primarily associate the University of Bristol with its academic reputation, but we’re also a leading University for sport. Sport forms a huge part of university life for thousands of students here at Bristol, and we’re dedicated to supporting all of our clubs to continue their success in 2017/18 and beyond”.

John House, Sport and Student Development Officer for Bristol SU said:

“Coming 9th in BUCS is an incredible success for Bristol and a testament to the unrelenting hard work of the students within our clubs. This was not achieved by the performance of a few top athletes, but by a combined effort from all of our clubs, from 1st teams to 6th teams, all of whom turned out and gave it their all week in week out”.

Further information

Students interested in getting involved in sport for the next academic can meet all of the University’s 70+ sports clubs and societies at the Welcome Fair, on Friday 22 September.